Several ballet-based workouts -- or empires -- have emerged in the last decade with the premise that the best way to achieve these long muscles is through micro-movements. I tested the following seven techniques, and while all will sculpt and tone, no two are exactly alike.

hen I had my first baby and it was just me in my body again, I began to feel anxious about my new identity as a woman. I switched gears from being okay with losing myself to grasping tightly to the idea that all would be lost if I let the old me, the presumed "real" me, go.